Tuesday, January 01, 2013

I remember

What it was like to go to a one-room schoolhouseWhen "under God" wasn't in the pledge of allegiance, and nobody thought that was a big deal. (It was added in 1954.) When margarine was white, but there was a capsule of some kind packaged with it that contained yellow food coloring, and my mom kneaded the color into the margarine. President Truman signed the Margarine Act of 1950, and from then on, margarine was yellow. I wasn't quite six years old when that happened, but I surely do recall my mom kneading the color into the margarine. Click HERE for the history of margarine. When most of the people I knew did not have running water. We took a bucket to the pump out back, pumped away until the bucket was full, and carried it into the house. There was a dipper in the bucket, and anybody who wanted a drink of water used the dipper. Germs? I suppose so, but we didn't worry about them. We had a toilet in the back yard. If nature called in the middle of the night, you went outside to the dark toilet to do your business. Unless it was winter, and then you used the chamber pot under the bed. When everybody knew their neighbors. When nobody had TV sets. When even the WORST-behaved children wouldn't have used the F-word, except maybe for little boys, when no girls or grownups were around.When teachers were allowed to discipline students. When one of the games we kids liked to play was "church". Pretend games were very popular back then. When children played outside, summer or winter. How many kids do you see playing outdoors these days? I remember fireflies and Junebugs.Back in the fifties, I didn't know anything about politics. I felt safe in the arms of my family and my neighbors, even when mile-long Army convoys headed up 69 highway during the Korean conflict. I didn't know politicians were crooked. It was wonderful to be a kid. Folks, I have little hope for our country. Both parties are rotten to the core. The elected officials are only worried about what they can get while they are in office. I give up. I'm tired of it, and I'm tired of hearing know-it-all Democrats and know-it-all Republicans acting like their parties are going to be our salvation. The good news is that we are only pilgrims and strangers here. Look up, for our redemption draweth nigh. (Luke chapter 22)

I do remember a lot of those same things. One of the few things different was that since I was a city girl, most of us had running water indoors. It was only when I went to my grandparents house that we had to draw water from the well. They did get a pump eventually by the kitchen sink and everyone thought that was wonderful. As for the politicians I think the best thing we could do for them is to pray. We have a few more inches of snow this morning. Happy New Year!

I remember all those things you mentioned. I remember when we first started using margarine it was white and in a plastic bag with that red stuff in the middle to mash around. We didn't have running water but drew it out of a well with a bucket. They built a new school where the old one was a few years back. Prisoners from Germany built the one I went to school in all my life.

Thank you for stopping by my blog!! :) I helped grassroots type things for a campaign this simmer. 2 friends got eleced to Iowa positions. It will be interesting to watch and hear what goes on inside. If all is truly lost. I am hoping the tide is turnng. But we'll see. My kids still play outside, but when they get around the modern kids of today - you can tell the difference.